Railway car retarder



June 7, 1932. H. L., BONE RAILWAY CAR RETARDER Filed oct. 9, i929 INVENTORZ ffi.. Bona, i2; Q/lml erna-l FlC-* vHERBERT L. BONE, F SWISSVVALE, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TOTHE UNION SVVITCI-l'.` `v

SYLVANIA i Y' .i & SIGNAL COMPANY, OF SWISSVALE, PENNSYLVANIA,-A CORPORATION 0F {PENN- RAILWY OAR 2R11TARLDERY t Application iile'd October 9, 1929. Serial No. 398,304.

My invention relates to railway car Vretarders of the type involving braking bars located in the trackway and. movable into engagement with the wheels of a car for thepurpose of retarding the motion of the car. One object of my invention 1s the provi- Y s ionwin a car retarder of the type described lar parts in both views.

"ingbars 3 and 4 located on opposite sides of t of apparatus for positively guiding onto the 'rails' at the leaving end of the retarder'car wheels' which have been raised off of the rails in passing 'through the retarder.

rails are mounted oncrossties 2 in the usual l -manner, and overwhichcars normally move from left to rightfas viewed in Fig. 1. Associated with thetrack rails land 1a is a car retarder, designated in general by the reference character A., and comprising two brak- "the track rail 1, and two similar` braking bars 3a: and 4a loc-ated on opposite sides of the'track railfla. The braking' bars maybe moved Vtoward or away from the'track rails, that is,

intofclosed or open positions of the retardenf by any suitable means, such fory example, as themechanism shown and described in my fcopending application for vLetters Patent of the United States, Serial No. 307895, filed September 24, 1928, for railway. braking apparatus.

the vdrawing because it forms no part of my conditions present invention.`

vIn'the operation of car retarders of the type describedV itmayhappen under some that the wheels of a car, uponl being engaged by the braking bars are lifted off of the vtrack rails and ride upv on top 'of vthe brakingbarsy When Athis occurs, it is will describe one form of apparatus ein` 'bodying myy invention, and will then point l7 is a similar triangular plate '.Theplate This mechanism'is omitted from desi'rable `-giuide the wheels yof tliecar back onto the track railsat the leavingend ofthe Vretarder in order to prevent the wheels of the car from dropping down, into the trackway and damaging the ear andlad-ing, or 'the apparatus located in thetrackway, or both.

y,For this purpose, I providetwo guide rails '5' and 7 which nia-ybe standard frail" sections,

andwhich, as here shown',"are 'locatedbetween the track rails at theleavi'ng end of the lretarder with the'guide rail lad'j acent the track rail ,1 and with theguid'e railf7 [adjacent the trackV rail 1a. The guide. rails are mounted on riser blocksv 6 securedto thecrossties,2.5

The thickness' of ,the riser blocks l is :such that' the tops lof, theguiderails extend slightly above the topsof the track rails" as best `seen in Eig. 2.." The guide rail 'is bent finter- Y i mediate its ends to form a longjleg fandau l short leg 5h, andthe guide rail `7 ,isV similarly bent tofform a long Vleg 7? and a short leg7b. The left handfend of the leg afof'the guide rail 5 is located adjacent the endl of thebraking bar 3 and the rail 5 is so arranged that both-legsv ofthe bar areinclined'to the rail: 1, sufi'icient clearance being maintained between the rail 1' and the guide rail 5 attheir` nearest point toV permit `the passage ofr a car wheel {ia-nge between the vtrack rail and the guide rail. The left hand end of the legvfa'of the guide rail 7 is locatedadj acentthe end of the braking bar 3a, and the rail "7 'is 'so arranged that both legs yof the barare inclinedto 'the mil lawhle Permitting-,amen fiang'eto pass fully between the Vtracl';` rail 1f* an'clvthe guide rail 7. Located between the trackrail 1 and the leg 5u of the guide raijlf a triangular V'plate v12,l andV `located between :the

track rail' 1a andthe leg`7? of the gu'ide'rail@V j12"is fastened,` by means of'afplurality'fof screws 12a, to a block 13 which, in turn,'is fastened to a tie 2 by means'of a lagV screw 18, `the head of which Lfits' in' al suitable. hole manner as the block 13 is fastened to the tie 2 by the lag screw 18. The parts are so arranged that the upper surfaces of the plates 12 and 14 are parallel with the tops of the track rails 1 and la but are located below theY tops of the track rails a. distance which is slightly less than the minimum depth of any car wheel flange.

Two other flat plates 8 and 10 extend parallel vwith andare in engagement with the track rails l and 1a on the opposite side of these rails from the guide rails 5 and 7, re

` spectively. FThe plate 8 is fastened,`by means of a plurality of, screws 8?", to a Stringer 9 which is secured to the crossties 2=by means of lagscrews 20, and the plate 10 is similarly fastened, by means of a plurality of screws 10a, to a Stringer 11 which is'secuied to the crossties 2 by means of lag screws 21. The

heads of the lagscrews 2O and 21 are located in suitable holes formed in theV plates and the stringers so that the heads of they screws do not extend above the tops of the plates.

' 'lhe parts are arranged in such manner that as best seen-in Fig. 2.v

A plurality of bolts 16, here shown as two Ain numben'extend through the guide rail 5,

the upper surfaces of the plates 8 and 10`are level'with the -tops of the track rails' 1 and 1a block 13, track rail 1,7and Stringer 9, and two similar bolts 17 extend through the guide rail 7 block'l, track rail 1a, andstringer 11, to hold the parts in their proper positions.

Y Whenthe car wheels of a car are raised vfrom ythe track rails by the braking bars of the retarder Av there are several positions which the wheelsmay take with relation to the rails and to the retarder itself. For eX wheel may rideon top of an outside braking y Under 'these conditions, after the car wheel f whoseflange has been vriding on top. of the bar such as 4 and the i'langeof the other wheel on top of an inside 'braking bar such as 3a.

a In vexplainingthe operation of the appa- -ratus,Iv will .assume that the wheels of a car 'occupy' the positions last mentioned above.

brakingbar '3a rolls oi of the yend of the braking bar, the flange of this wheel rides on plate 1 4'. As it continues its forward motion, the f iange'engages the leg 7% of the guide Vrail 7 which guides the wheel kback to its proper 4position with .relation tothe rail 1a. The opi posite wheel which in the meantime has had*` itstread. riding .on braking bar 4 drops onto Plate'. after leaving the retarder and iS guidi ed, back-t0 its position on vthev will as a result of the guiding effect imposed upon the opposite wheel by leg Pof guide rail 7 The operation of the guide rails for the other positions of the car wheels pointed out above is similar to that just described and will-be readily understood from an inspection of the drawi g.

Although I have herein shown and described only one form of apparatus embodying my invention, it is understood `that various changes and modificationsmay be made therein within the scope of` the appended claims without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what AIflam is: Y

1. The combination with ka railway car retarder comprising braking bars located in the trackway adjacent the trackrails `rid IDON- able into engagementv with the wheels 'offa rigidly iiXed guide rail inclined towardone ytrack rail from a point adjacent `the `leaving end of a braking bar which is associated'vwith said one track rail. l v

tarder comprising brakingbars located in the trackway adjacent the track railsand movable into engagement with the wheels oi'y a car for retarding the motion, ofthe car,f. of a rigidly fixed guide rail inclined toward Va rigidly fixed guide rail inclined toward one car for retarding the motion of the car, offa y 2,90 2. The combination with 'a railway ca r'retrack rail from a point adjacent the leaving I .end of a brakingbar whichis associated with said one track rail, and a latplate. extendingparallel with and in engagement with the other track rail and having its upper y'surface level with the top of said other rtrack rail.

4. kThe combination .wit-ha railway car retarder comprising braking bars located in the trackway adjacent the track railsl and movable into engagement with the wheels of .acar for retarding the motion of the canot arigidly fixedl guide rail located between said track rails and inclined toward one track rail:

from a point adjacent the leaving-end of a braking bar which is associated with said one track rail, the top of said guide rail. being higher than the top of said one track rail, and

a flat plate extending parallel with and inii engagement with the other track rail o n the YAY1,10

opposite side of said other trackrail from said guide rail andhaving its 'upper snrface .level withthe top of said'other track rail. .5- The Combi-nation With ajrailway car re-u tarder comprising braking bars located in the trackway adjacent the track rails and movable into engagement with the wheels of a car for retarding the motion of the car, of a rigidly fixed guide rail located between said track rails and inclined toward one track rail from a point adjacentI the leaving end of a braking bar which is associated with said one track rail, the top of said guide rail being higher than the top of said one trackvrail, a first flat plate located between said guide rail and said one track rail and having its upper surface parallel with the top of said one track rail but located belowr the top of said one track rail a distance which is slightly less than the minimum depth of a car wheel flange, and a second flat plate extending parallel with and in engagement with the outside of the other track rail and having its upper surface level with the top of said other track rail.

6. The combination with a railway car retarder comprising braking bars located in the trackway adjacent the track rails and movable into engagement with the wheels of a car for retarding the motion of the car, of two guide rails located between the track rails, one inclined toward each track rail from a point adjacent the leaving end of a braking bar at the leaving end of said retarde1',y the tops of said guide rails being higher than the tops of the track rail, two plates one with the wheels of a car for retarding. the

motion of the car, of a plate located in the trackway adjacent one side of one rail at the leaving end of said retarder to receive car wheels raised from the track rails during the transit of the car through the retarder, and a uide rail adjacent the opposite side of the ot er rail for positively guiding the wheels of a derailed car onto the. rails, said plate permitting transverse movement of one wheel while the wheel on the other end of the same axle is guided onto the rail.

In testimony whereof I laflixl my signature.

c HERBERT' L.- BONE.

soV

located between each guide rail and the assoi ciated track rail and each having its upper surface parallel with but located below the top of the associated track rail a distance which is slightly less than the depth of a car wheel flange, and two other plates, one located on the out-side of each track rail and each having one edge extending parallel with and in engagement with the associated track rail and having its upper surface level with the top of the associated track rail.

7. The combination with a railway car retarder comprising braking bars located in the trackway and movable into engagement with the wheels of a car for retarding the motion of the car, of a guide rail located in the trackway adjacent the leaving end of said retarder for positively guiding onto the rails car wheels which have been raised from the rails during the transit of the car through said retarder. j,

8. The combination with a railway car retarder comprising braking bars located in the trackway and movable into engagement with the wheels of a car for retarding the motion of the car, of two guide rails rigidly fastened in the trackway at the leaving end of said retarder and one adjacent each track rail for positively guiding onto the rails car wheels which have been raised from the rails during the transit of the car through said retarder.

9. The combination with a railway car re 

